A young man had been taught by his good parents to begin and end each day with prayer. When he was old enough, this fellow enlisted in the army.

The first night in the barracks, he knelt down by his bedside and silently recited his night prayers. The other soldiers, all older and more experienced than he, had never seen such a thing. They made fun of him for it. But he simply ignored them.

This was not the reaction they had hoped for. They wanted to get a rise out of him. So they began to roar with laughter, to whistle and stamp their feet. Still, he did not allow himself to get agitated. He calmly finished his prayers and then lay down in bed.

The next evening he knelt down to pray as he had. The others carried on with the same obnoxious outburst of noise like they had the night before. Once again, the pious young soldier patiently ignored them and faithfully said his prayers.

The third evening went the same as the previous two. But the young man was not disconcerted, and paid no attention to what his companions said or did.

At last one of the noisiest of the men said:

"Let the lad alone, comrades. There is the making of a good soldier in him. He can stand fire."

From that time on, no one disturbed him at his prayers. What’s more, several of the others followed his example. If they did not kneel at their bedside, they at least breathed a silent prayer before going to sleep.

The courage of this devout young soldier soon showed itself in other areas, and he quickly rose to distinction in the army.